Winter 2010—Season of Silence

The hush of fallen snow has once again returned to the glacier-capped peaks of Olympic National Park and down in the Hoh Valley, the rain beats new rhythms through its 300-foot tall forest. This is a sonic wonderland, rich with opportunities to truly be alone and empty of workaday thoughts, a rare, pristine haven for restoring your senses. Meanwhile snowmobiles continue to roar through Yellowstone. The chop of helicopters shatter the natural silence at Hawaii Volcanoes and Haleakala.   And again this year, an unbelievable 90,000 air tours will fly over Grand Canyon.  Without a sound level meter or even a microphone to measure noise intrusions, Olympic Park management has turned a deaf ear to the urgent need of protecting its endangered natural soundscape.  Olympic National Park is the last great quiet place among the 392 units managed by the National Park Service; yet the operating budget to save the silence and the natural sonic wonders of this park remains zero dollars—yes, zero.  What’s more, Karen Gustin, Superintendent of Olympic National Park, replied in a 2009 email: “Olympic NP is in queue to start an air tour management plan sometime within the next couple of years or so.” 

Planning for air tours? We should be banning not planning.

Speak out for silence (email your concerns to Supt. Gustin Karen_Gustin@nps.gov)and give generously to One Square Inch of Silence. 

UPDATE at  Newsweek (January 28, 2010): An Unquiet Nation–America’s Vanishing Silent Spaces.

Your support is the voice of silence. Donate.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 1:00 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Winter 2010—Season of Silence”

  1. Durwood Edwards Says:

    March 9th, 2010 at 6:58 pm

    I just finished your book and as one who has hiked up the Hoh Valley as well as 5 other areas of Olympic National Park, I am saddened to hear of the attitude of the park administration, but heartened by your continuing efforts.

    Durwood Edwards

  2. Jocelyn Kilpela Says:

    April 27th, 2010 at 11:06 am

    Heard your interview on “On Point” on NPR traveling from Denver to Calumet, Michigan. Very interesting interview. Just wondering, have you ever heard of Isle Royale National Park? My family owns a passenger ferry boat that transports people there for mainly hiking. In our brochure, we advertise “stone silence” as there are no motorized vehicles on the island, though there is a lot of boating. But at night, it is a quiet that we are not use to because there is no hum of any kind in the distance. And it is inky dark. We’ve (my family) been a part of that venture for 40 years. It’s been a privilege in my life time. Thank you for bringing the importance of silence to us.

  3. Lillian Says:

    May 2nd, 2010 at 4:48 pm

    I haven’t read your book yet. I was reminded of it through an NPR radio show today (To the Best of Our Knowledge) and must get the book. I really appreciate your work. I’ve been to the Hoh Rain Forest and other parts of the Olympic Peninsula a number of years ago. What an amazing place, and I do think it’s essential to keep at least parts of it free of mechanical noise.

    Lillian

  4. Mike Brooks Says:

    May 2nd, 2010 at 7:13 pm

    I heard your interview this afternoon’s “To The Best of Our Knowledge” on Wisconsin Public Radio. Wonderful!

  5. tessman Says:

    May 3rd, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    Keep up the good work! The value of natural silence is immeasurable and has been ignored too long.

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